Our View: Growing income gap widespread

A national story by CNN, as well The News-Star's own piece this week, reminded the world that the town with the biggest gap between the haves and have-nots in America is located right here in northeastern Louisiana at Lake Providence.

This wasn't news to most of us - or to most of you.

Time magazine declared Lake Providence "the poorest place in America" in 1994. The News-Star followed up with a special report on the destitute Delta town in 2002.

Former 5th District U.S. Rep. John Cooksey, R-Monroe, made Lake Providence a special project of his during his three terms.

Unfortunately, after decades of attention to this sad state of poverty in Lake Providence and the disparity between the few rich and mostly poor people of the town, little has changed.

But while the gap between rich and poor may be most stark in Lake Providence, that gap is growing larger throughout America.

Today, the top 1 percent of household income is $394,000 annually. The average for the rest of the population is $51,000.

In 2012, the share of income flowing to the top 1 percent rose to almost 20 percent of the income generated by the entire economy, the highest level since 1927.

Average real income for the top 1 percent rose 86 percent from 1993 to 2012, while the bottom 99 percent saw an increase of 6.6 percent during the same period.

The top 10 percent of earners took more than half of the country's total income in 2012, the highest level recorded since the government began collecting such data 100 years ago.

This shrinking of the middle class is one of the greatest threats to the United States and its economy.

And while it's easy to point fingers at Lake Providence, we best be aware that the trend is growing all around us, even in the region's economic hub of Ouachita Parish.

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Our View: Growing income gap widespread

A national story by CNN, as well The News-Star's own piece this week, reminded the world that the town with the biggest gap between the haves and have-nots in America is located right here in